Lasagna is the comfort food of comfort foods but we all know that it’s a bit labour intensive. This makes it a great candidate for your meal prep routine. The best part about this recipe is that it is freezer friendly.
Lasagna is one of those meals that you only eat on special occasions, or at parties. Its takes a bit of time and effort. It often feels like it’s not worth it but then your family eats it is 3.5 seconds and praises you for days to come and you think that you should make it more often.
If this sounds all too familiar, this is the recipe for you. Since you’ll be prepping all the layers anyway, make a double batch and freeze half. This way next time you can have the same delicious lasagna without all the work. Simply defrost in the freezer overnight and bake the next day. It’s that easy!
Preparation
Overall, this lasagna recipe is quite easy it just takes a few steps to get to the finished product. The three steps you’ll need to execute are:
- Make the tomato sauce
- Make the ricotta layer
- Assemble and bake
Start the tomato sauce by browning the meat on medium heat. Use a deep pan or even a Dutch oven to make sure you have enough room for all the sauce ingredients.
Chop the vegetables and add them to the pan. Cook for a few minutes stirring often. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds or so. Add the passata or canned crushed tomatoes.
Add all the herbs and spices and stir to combine. Add the sugar, tomato paste and stock. Stir and cover to simmer for 10 minutes. Make sure to stir a few times to prevent burning. Tomato sauce will splatter a lot so make sure you don’t forget the lid if you want to keep your stove and clothes relatively clean.
While your sauce simmers, chop the spinach. In a medium bowl add ricotta, spinach and ½ cup parmesan cheese and mix well until combined. You can’t overmix but you can most definitely under mix.
Grate the mozzarella cheese.
Now its time to assemble to turn this into a lasagna. You can use two 5×8 aluminum pans like I did, which are great for freezing, or one 9×13 glass baking dish.
Start with a very thin layer of the tomato and meat sauce. You don’t need to cover the whole bottom of the dish. You just want some separation between the bottom of the dish and the noodles.
Next, I like to divide all the components into equal portions to make sure I don’t run out of anything by the time I get to the top layer. These portions are for two 5×10 pans:
- tomato sauce into 4 portions
- mozzarella into 6 portions
- ricotta spinach mixture into 2
I usually just use a spatula and draw lines in the tomato sauce and ricotta mixture to create the portions.
On top of the thin layer of tomato sauce, add lasagna noodles without overlapping. You may need to break some noodles to get good coverage. I like to cover every single inch but that has more to do with my own quirkiness than it does with the flavour of the dish. Top the noodles with one portion of meat sauce per pan. Then spread shredded mozzarella, also one portion per pan.
Add another layer of lasagna noodles making sure they don’t overalp. Top with the ricotta mixture, half of ricotta mixture per pan, and again one portion of shredded mozzarella per pan.
No we will repeat the first layer. Noodles, then tomato sauce topped with mozzarella cheese.
Finally, top everything with a ¼ cup parmesan per pan.
Once fully cooled, cover both pans with the lid, if they came with one and seal around the edges. Then cover with aluminum foil, and, either wrap in cling wrap, or put each pan in a large sealable plastic or silicone bag. You want to make sure each pan is well sealed to prevent freezer burn.
Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. It will last even longer if its really well sealed, but there is higher risk of freezer burn.
Substitutions and Alternatives
- You can skip the carrots and celery but I always like a little veg to add some extra nutrients. You can easily use other veggies instead or add more veggies. Broccoli florets and grated zucchini are excellent substitutes/additions.
- Instead of passata you can use canned crushed tomatoes and if you don’t have tomato paste you can leave it out.
Serving
- Lasagna is known to be served with a side of garlic bread and a salad. I say, why deviate from the tested and true. I’ve paired it with our simple spinach salad with lemon dressing.
- Since the lasagna is so delicious anything that you add as a side will play second fiddle to this main. But if you want to add some extra veg to your meal simple steamed broccoli is always my go-to.
Freezer-Ready Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce layer:
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ onion medium
- 1 carrot large
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 clove garlic
- 680 ml passata
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- 30 ml tomato paste
- ¼ cup stock
- 1 Tbsp sugar
Ricotta layer:
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 475 g Ricotta cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan
Assembly:
- ½ cup parmesan
- 400 g Mozzarella cheese
- 375 g Lasagna noodles oven ready
Instructions
Tomato Sauce Layer:
- Warm a deep pan on medium heat and add the ground beef to brown. As the meat is cooking, chop the onion and celery and grate the carrots. If you don’t have a grater, chop the carrots into smaller pieces than the celery.1 lb ground beef, 1 carrot, 1 stalk celery, ½ onion
- Add the vegetables to the browned ground beef and cook for 3 more minutes.½ onion, 1 carrot, 1 stalk celery
- Add garlic and cook for 30 more seconds then add the passata.1 clove garlic, 680 ml passata
- Add all the herbs, garlic and onion powder, and salt, pepper and sugar, and stir to combine.½ tsp dried basil, ½ tsp dried oregano, 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp garlic powder, ¾ tsp salt, ½ tsp pepper, 1 Tbsp sugar
- Add tomato paste and stock and simmer on low for another 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning.30 ml tomato paste, ¼ cup stock
Ricotta Layer:
- Chop the spinach.1 cup fresh spinach
- In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, chopped spinach, and parmesan.1 cup fresh spinach, 475 g Ricotta cheese, ½ cup Parmesan
Assembly:
- Using 2 5x10 aluminum pans, start with a very thin layer of the tomato and meat sauce.
- Divide remaining tomato sauce into 4 portions, your mozzarella into 6 and the ricotta spinach mixture into 2. This will make the lasagna layers more even.
- Add a layer of lasagna noodles and top those with one portion of meat sauce per pan. Then spread shredded mozzarella, also one portion per pan.
- Add another layer of lasagna noodles. Top with the ricotta mixture, half of ricotta mixture per pan, and again one portion of shredded mozzarella per pan.
- Repeat step 3.
- Top everything with a ¼ cup parmesan per pan.
- Once cooled, cover both pans with the lid, if they came with one. Then cover with aluminum foil, and, either wrap in cling wrap, or put each pan in a large sealable plastic or silicone bag.
- Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. It will last even longer but there is higher risk of freezer burn.
Baking:
- Thaw overnight before cooking. Bake on 350°F for 60 minutes, covered with aluminum foil. Don’t forget to remove the cardboard lid first, if you used one. Make sure the foil isn’t touching the cheese on top or it will stick.
- Uncover for the last 10 minutes of baking to brown the cheese a little. Internal temperature should be at least 165°F. Each aluminum container serves two people.
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